Stealth Part 5
by Wayne7793
Summary: Continuing adventures of Stealth, as Inara finds and wows her new lover, even though they just met.


**CHAPTER XIX**

David and Inara went out the deck to talk some more. Inara looked out at the sea, still daydreaming, "I had a dream last night, that a tall slim man with glasses was approaching me and I was trying to get him to come to bed with me and he was kinda reluctant. Is this weird?" David thought for a moment, "I'm not sure. We could ask Felicia later, maybe she can help."

Inara hugged David, "Oh, thanks I keep forgetting how smart you guys are!" The two looked out some more at the sea, the waves churning in a light ocean storm. Inara stared really hard into the distance, "You think he's out there? My guy…" David smiled, but didn't know what to say. Inara didn't notice he was quiet, she kept staring as David quietly left the deck, heading for car storage.

Upon meeting the steward and asking for fake information, he headed down and found a bored Felicia, "Oh, it's about time you found me, honey, I almost fell asleep waiting for a mouse to set off a trap I made!" David chuckled a bit, "That bored eh?" Felicia became serious, "So what's your problem? How can I help?" David mentioned some of the questions, concerns and dreams Inara had about her prospective lover, "Is she that serious? What if he's not it?" David frowned, "But what if he is? We can't keep them apart, at least we can find out, never hurts to ask." Felicia mentally scoffed, "He's liable to have several ladies waiting for him!" but said no more as David frowned and headed back to his room to contemplate this and more.

CHAPTER XX

The ship met no pirates, like Felicia was informed via long-wave radio. David didn't even notice the quiet seas as he thought about what the car and Inara shared with him. He realized something he never addressed, he was almost 18 and never had a girlfriend himself. Should he be himself more often and try to win a girl? Should he assume the Stealth persona and ask an older woman out? Would Felicia be ok with any of this? All this churned in his normal brain, without the help and hindrance of telepathy and world-wide web knowledge.

He fell asleep and didn't notice the same pirates that were no longer a threat appear and storm the ship. Inara noticed some funny activity and leapt off-ship to handle the threat. She handled a few pirates, Chinese rogue communists part of a larger community of the leftist Chinese mob, part hippy, part ninja, very ironic indeed! What had started as a group of Greenpeace extremists turned into bloody battles and confused leadership. What remained was a mix of liberal animal lovers and part thieves. Inara stood her ground and faced off 4 opponents at once. She used her knife to cut a thief in the face while two more jumped her from behind. She screamed as they hauled her away.

A large explosion hit near the storage level and a pair of headlights woke up. Felicia was awakened and sensed danger nearby. She morphed into large panther mode and leaped through the splintered metal and wood with nary a scratch on her. Three bomb specialists were cleaning up, looking for loot when a large glossy animal jumped them, taking out their cluster. Gun shots went off and all when silent, then a lone cat lumbered out with 3 hostages safely returned to their ship.

David groggily woke up and came out to see what was going on! He almost took the form of Stealth but didn't need to, Inara with Felicia's help saved the day. The captain of the ship caught a slim glance of a wild cat leaping off ship, unsure what he saw. He rescued and talked to Inara about what happened. She wasn't sure, but assured them the captain and all in command of the pirate were taken care of. The Captain then had the pirate ship secured for depositing at the next port where the port police could take care of them.

The ships report left a few missing pieces of cargo, a black exotic car, some luggage, several safes full of money, credit chips and various treasures were missing but returned, only the 2 safes and exotic car were never found. David feared Felicia was gone for good! He pouted while Inara told him, "She'll be back, she had to hide for awhile!" He didn't believe her, he was lost without her!

CHAPTER XXI

At the next port, the port of Nigera, was the ships next stop. The couple left the ship with little luggage left. David hailed a taxi and they rented 2 single rooms, so David could think alone, the first time in years. He was very depressed and Inara didn't know what to say or do. She kept thinking of her lover out, damaged in war, his family must miss him. If she could help him, them maybe he'd fall for her, maybe her dreams might tell her something. Now, she had to help David out, help him locate Felicia.

It was New Years 2058, and David didn't feel like celebrating. Neither did Inara, she stayed with David, holding his hand, telling him things would work out. She reminded him that even if Felicia was a panther once more, that "time would tell" about how she felt about him. He expressed how lonely he was, never having the time to find a special woman. Inara felt guilty but couldn't help him, "Sorry, you're not exactly my type, kid." This didn't help, but time alone did.

A few days later, Inara caught more news of the web, good news about Captain Hickey! David rushed to see what she was blabbering about and was giddy for her as well. This was great news. He was married at the tender age of 24, but his wife died in a bloody battle and he was alone! She needed to find him and ask if she could help him out. David shook his head, "Well, without Felicia, good luck. I cannot do anything more than ask the local military where he might be located." And David left Inara at the motel. Inara cried herself to sleep, lonely without his help or Felicia's.

CHAPTER XXII

David wandered the streets alone, not sure where his orb was, not caring anymore. He thought about hitting a local bar and looking for a cheap lay, but couldn't see himself doing it. He sensed Felicia was still out there somewhere, she had to be! He eventually wandered out to the beach and was kicking rocks around when he heard a voice, "David, where are you?" David looked up, his eyes wide! He heard that voice before, but it sounded distant. He looked around the docks and along the beach and no sign of the panther or the orb. He started to head back to town when a black melted shape caught his eye. It might be Felicia! He ran to the source of the voice he heard and found parts of a charred vehicle strewn underneath a bridge.

Felicia had nearly overloaded and her circuits were confused. She leapt overboard due to acid damage and her shielding almost collapsed! She realized she had foolishly tried to save Inara and almost paid the price herself. What became a weak spot in her armor reformed and healed over time. She pulled herself slowly up onto the sand, underneath the bridge more, into the shadow. Her green hellfire eyes smoked and sizzled a bit as water was sloshed out, making David worry more about her. He was afraid to touch her, she was twitching and changing shape constantly, but she was able to communicate telepathically with him no problem and told him so, "Don't worry about me, Inwe needs your help!" David stood there with his mouth half open, "How am I supposed to help her without Stealth? Where did my orb go?" Felicia glitched twice and a black ball fell out, rolling down the sand. David scooped it up, "Thanks!" and gently kissed her.

He quickly ran back to the motel, but Inara was gone already. David panicked but hid in an alley as he let the change happen. It was getting dark, so he used what information he could salvage and headed south, letting Felicia handle herself. Stealth leaped from building top to building top, hunting for Inara.

CHAPTER XXIII

Inara was heading out of town in another taxi cab when she was rudely robbed. The taxi driver was not who he said he was! He was in for a rude awakening dealing with Inara. She dealt him a severe blow, crippling him and left the taxi still running. She was startled when a shimmering shape appeared out of nowhere! She tried to focus in the dark, "Who's there?" and Stealth turned off his light-bending mode and appeared out of the shadows, "Faith and Begorrah, ye scared the crap out of me, you did!" She ran up and hugged the large man, almost in tears again, "Dammit, fucking taxi driver tried to rob me, in his own goddamn taxi, no less!" Stealth laughed, "Well, he won't be doing that again, will he?" Inara shook her head, "No, I don't think so…"

The two headed south, towards eastern Cameroon. Stealth changed back and put the orb back in his backpack while Inara hailed another taxi, "I'm running short on money here, you got $200?" David checked his wallet, "Nope, sorry…" and they decided to walk for awhile. Inara stared back at him, "Where is Felicia, did you find her?" David smiled, "Yeah, she's fine… or will be soon." Inara left that unanswered as they crossed the border, finally hitching a ride on the back of a mule truck.

While traveling in southern Cameroon, they stumbled across a short-term job, sending a package to a hidden location. Stealth took the package carefully, "Wonder what it is?" Inara shrugged, "Doesn't matter, let's deliver it and get our money!" No sooner had she said that, when the package exploded, sending both people off the road, onto the sidewalk. A nearby shop clerk wandered out, talking in Portugese, muttering something Inara couldn't understand. It didn't help the blast half-deafened her, she was wandering in shock for a moment. A pair of large hands grabbed her and steadied her. She looked mutely up at a large dark stranger with soot all over his black suit. It was Stealth! She cleared her eyes and he was gone! She shook her head as the ringing settled down and was pissed she might not get her money.

CHAPTER XXIV

She found David walking out of a market place, some money in his hand, "So, you're making money anyways, eh?" He smiled, "Yep, got some local money helping out a farmer with his goats." Inara laughed, "You're quite the charmer, you are." They wandered south of town, and flagged another taxi down. This time they headed out of southern Cameroon, eastward to Chad, Africa. Here they entered a seedy cantina, full of underworld crooks and riff-raff. David approached the desk, "Got internet here?" He asked in Swahili. The bartender nodded and said something unintelligible. Inara nodded, "What did he say?"

David pointed at a terminal, "He said they have wireless DSL, over here…" and sat down at the free terminal. Inara had him search for a Captain Darin Hickey and no luck. After 4 searches, a Commander Darin Hickey was registered in a hospital over in eastern Africa this afternoon. He was honorably discharged and gained rank at the same time!

Inara squealed, "Well, let's go, I have a man to win over!" David chuckled and thanked the bartender, dropping a $20 dollar local coin for his trouble. The bartender shrugged, grabbed the coin and went back to making another drink.

They hitched another ride with a rental truck to eastern Africa, to the country most likely by the internet listing search, Eastern Cape. He was either checked in at the town of Queenstown or East London. They checked the military hospital at East London, with no luck and tried Queenstown and found a Darin Hickey there, with chest injuries. He was being hypo-scanned for internal bleeding, but recovering ok. He had 1 visitor, a brother. Inara wondered how she could visit him, so lied and said she was his girlfriend and it worked! Inara calmly introduced herself to a dazed and drugged Commander Hickey, Australian defense corps, stationed in Africa. He didn't notice her standing there, until she cleared her throat and said Hi. He blinked his blue eyes and looked at her, slowly taking in her nice slim athletic body, "Who-who are you?" he mumbled.

Inara stumbled and twiddled with her hair, "Look you don't know me, but I had a dream about you. My name's Inara!" She smiled and he was taken by cupid's arrow! He coughed and a heart's shape appeared on his bandaged chest, just below his heart. Inara choked and ran to see the nurse. They came back with some syringes and clean up towels, only to find him asleep. The nurse shooed Inara out, "You'll have to leave, visiting hours are over, sorry."


End file.
